Pokénigans
by NikuKnight
Summary: A place to put my pokemon ideas. Game shenanigans and an original story idea are the two so far. Maybe I'll add some nuzlocke stuff later?
1. The End

**A novelization of the final moments of my original ds lite's life.**

* * *

1: The End

It happened during one of our daily rotation battles.

"Roc, use pluck!" Season, my serperior, hastily retreated while my archeops rushed forward, hoping to catch my opponent's simisage before it could rotate out.

Before he could get there however, everything flickered many shades of red and white, like someone was messing around with the color balance on a computer screen. Roc stopped attacking to look around nervously with everyone else in the room. It had been like this for days; everything had more red in it than it should, sometimes flickering to varying levels of red wrongness.

But the white was new.

With renewed urgency, we kept on battling. The Ace Trainer's simisage had enough time to retreat behind her simipour due to Roc's hesitation. I heard a cry of "Simipour, watergun!"

I could only gasp as my archeops was driven back by Watergun's sheer force. I needed to get him out of there. Against a water type, he and Soulsucker (still a lampent) would be helpless, so I shouted, "Season, giga drain!"

My starter was readying to follow my command when the flickering grew more violent, like the universe was trying to give me a seizure. I couldn't see a trace of any other color now, like I had been able to see before. Now it was all shades of red and white. I began to grow worried; what was causing this? Whatever it was seemed to be reaching an ultimatum.

The world winked out of existence for a split second.

Panicking, I saw the trainer reaching for her pokeballs at the same time I did. "Season! Roc! Soulsucker! Retur—"

The world went black.

* * *

 **A/N: I wrote this in middle school, but it has held up surprisingly well over the years if you ignore the length. I'll try to figure out which photoshop filters I used to get the same effect as the game was having in its final moments. It looked pretty interesting. (I didn't have a smartphone at the time, so I couldn't get a picture)**


	2. Starter Shenanigans

**This one was meant to be a full story, but it's been a couple of years and I never got back to it. Sorry?**

* * *

2\. Starter Shenanigans

Today was the big day! The one day a child would willingly wake with the sun. There was nothing remarkable about the day in any natural sense, but one household was radiating an aura of excitement. With a _BANG_ loud enough to send birds squawking away, a young boy burst out of his house and ran to the laboratory near his home.

He was going to get a starter pokemon! It was the only thing on his mind. He even knew which one he was going to choose! With his very own pokemon, everyone would want to be friends with him. They'd go on adventures and battle the best of the best and no one would stop them!

His mind filled with dreams of greatness, the boy let out a whoop of glee when the door to the lab was in sight. This was going to be the best tenth birthday ever!

* * *

Professor Hawthorn didn't have time to study very often. Sure, it was his job to study, research, and contribute to pokemon science in general. Unfortunately it was also his job to provide lucky new trainers with their starter pokemon, and no matter how prepared he thought he was there was always something that went wrong. There were days when he questioned if he had more research opportunities before or after becoming a professor, as many of his papers were destroyed soon after being written. They'd return to being trees when the grass types got upset, waterlogged and dripping ink when the water types got rowdy and burned to a crisp if a fire type so much as got close.

On the rare accident-free days he studied form changes. How could a pokemon change so much so quickly? What exactly was it that caused these changes? It looked like evolution, but could be reversed. The newly discovered mega evolution brought on more questions, such as why mega stones were necessary. Theoretically, it might just be another type of form change, simply requiring different factors than things like weather. But those questions were put on hold in favor of rebuilding his lab most of the time. He left the mega evolution research to Professor Sycamore in Kalos, who would surely have more time for it, and dedicated himself to the other types of form changes.

The muffled slam of a door outside startled him out of his mental wallowing, and he hurriedly disaster-proofed his workspace as quickly as he could. This mainly involved stuffing papers and charts into the nearest desk drawer and pulling a glass box down over his computer. Strangers may call him paranoid, but residents of the small town just called it necessary precaution.

The sound of an excited whoop approaching alerted him to his shortage on time and, abandoning his desk, he tried to make himself look presentable as the calm, responsible professor that new trainers were supposed look up to. He was just patting the ruffles out of his lab coat when the door burst open.

"Professor! I'm here!"

* * *

This was not what Karen was expecting when she walked into work today. A little mishap? Maybe. It's a lab after all, and Professor Hawthorn's lab at that. But this was by far the most dramatic chaos she had ever stumbled upon. Literally stumbled; There was debris. Carefully the lab aide stepped around the rubble and peered inside the rugged hole into the lab that hadn't been there yesterday.

Unsurprisingly, the room was in shambles, though the shroud of smoke was too thick to see details through. Karen heard the hiss of sprinklers and a plethora of beeping and alarms indicating that the environment was not optimal for the various lab materials and equipment.

She sighed at the thought of having to rebuild again. Though, if nothing else, at least these situations gave her a job.

First things first, she needed to see the full extent of the destruction. Walking around front, she opened the main door and tossed up a pokeball. A colorful bird with feathers shaped like music note on its head emerged in a flash of light.

"Alright Chatot, time to use Defog!"

Despite the bird's small wingspan, the wind from a few determined wingstrokes miraculously cleared the smoke from the room. This didn't stop the sprinkler system, but at least it was easier to see.

Job done, the bird chirped a quick, "Chatot! Air is clear!" Before returning himself to his pokeball. He didn't like wet feathers.

With no smoke clouding her way, Karen entered the lab. Her eyes widened at the sight of so many broken things—normally it was just one instrument at a time that got broken—before having to stifle a laugh. Hawthorn's research and data was unsalvageable once again. Somehow the glass box over the computer had cracked, letting water from the sprinklers in and causing it to spark alarmingly. The paper documentation wasn't spared either, the drawer having somehow opened. Charred pieces of paper were scattered around and whatever was left in the drawer was floating in sprinkler water.

There were a couple spots clear of damage, where she supposed the Professor's burmy had used protect. Upon scrutinizing the room a little more throughly, she found the bug types hanging onto the underside of one of the tables to stay dry. Smart.

The professor on the other hand did nothing to shelter himself from the sprinklers' downpour. He was slouched in the remains of his desk chair, eyes closed as if to come to terms with his thoughts and posture utterly defeated.

Karen approached him, taking a deep breath to calm herself so she could keep a straight face. "What was it this time?"

"Fire," he said mournfully, "A child with fire."

* * *

It could be said that Professor Hawthorn was fairly new at his job. It was hardly a surprise that he had only been working in this lab for six months, especially considering all the accidents that happened. Some chalked it up to lack of experience, though one would have expected him to have better control of things by now. Others thought that the lab was haunted by mischievous ghosts. Controversial people whispered about how there was something evil going on, and still others thought it was a hoax to get attention. Whatever the cause, it was widely accepted that if a week went by without some sort of commotion then something was horribly wrong and it was probably a good idea to pack up and move far, far away, as it was likely the calm before the storm.

Of course, none of the theories were true that the professor was aware of, except for maybe the lack of experience, but he wasn't about to admit that to anyone. Nothing would solve that problem but time, and he didn't think he could take the destruction any longer. Something had to change.

The most obvious thing to _him_ was the trainers. Ten was far too young to entrust with such powerful living creatures. But this was an age-old argument, and it always boiled down to irresponsibility vs. being protected. Besides, the last professor had allowed children of ten years to get a pokemon, and the last thing Hawthorn wanted to do was anger kids—and by association, their parents—by refusing them something they could get in the past. So changing the rule on trainers was ruled out.

The most obvious thing to _others_ was his equipment and research. Surely if he moved it away from the starters and into its own room it wouldn't get destroyed so often. But he had been down that road before. So engrossed was he in his studies that he didn't notice new trainers who arrived to receive their partners. So instead of his data getting destroyed, he had to deal with angry parents at best, thieves on a bad day and even more destruction at worst. If he left his research out of his sight while he greeted new trainers, well, similar things happened, just with more volatile materials. He couldn't be in two places at once, and his understandably tight budget meant he couldn't hire enough aides for proper security.

Ah, the joys of snowballing mistakes and the butterfly effect.

So if he couldn't change the trainers, shouldn't change the workspace and wouldn't change occupations, all that was left was the pokemon. That…was a good thought. He could work with that. It wasn't unheard of to change a region's starter pokemon, though wasn't common either. That was fine. It's not like his lab was known for being normal anyway.

* * *

 **A/N: Sorry for the abrupt cut-off. I just kinda stopped writing and never went back. It's disappointing to me too.**

 **Hokay, so had this become the full story it was in my mind it would have been called "Triple Regrets!" This refers to the fact that Professor Hawthorne tries to change the region's three starters, and it never goes well. By the end of the story, he gives up and goes back to the regular fire/grass/water set.**

 **I chose form changes for him to study because honestly it's the most interesting thing not taken by other professors (as of seventh gen, anyway). The reason he has such a hard time keeping his lab in order is because of his miscellaneous chemistry sets that he uses to test what exactly induces a form change in a pokemon. Considering how reactive some chemicals can be, especially around fire, explosions and other such shenanigans are not unexpected.**

 **Karen wasn't really planned as part of the story, but she was a convenient way to see the carnage. Also, considering how scattered Hawthorne is, I figured she'd have to be pretty competent to keep up with him. The fact that an entire move slot is used on defog says something, I think.**

 **Maybe there will be more to this someday. I certainly think it has potential. But I promise nothing.**


	3. ORAS: The Start of an Adventure

**I've been wanting to write stuff for the alpha sapphire nuzlocke I did back in 2014-15, but it's such a huge undertaking and my notes aren't as detailed as I'd hoped. So we're starting small, right at the beginning. Will I do drabbles? Will this become a full story? Who knows? I don't!**

* * *

3: The start of an Adventure

I looked at the Professor's suitcase with some trepidation. Sure, Professor Birch needed help, but these pokemon didn't look that tough; they were all in their first form and looked like they'd never seen a battle.

Then again, my opponent was a young-looking poochyena. It couldn't be that bad.

Remembering my adventures with Steven Stone back in Mossdeep city, (my only experience with Hoenn pokemon) I decided on the treecko; after all, mega sceptile was my favorite mega form of the three starters.

"Please hurry!" Professor Birch's cry reminded me that this was time-sensitive.

 _Alright, let's see how this goes._

"Let's go, Treecko!" I released the grass gecko from its Pokéball. "Use leer!"

Treecko did as he was told, sending the poochyena the stink eye.

Now distracted from the professor, the poochyena wasted no time charging at treecko with a tackle. It didn't do much.

"Alright, Treecko, return that tackle!"

Treecko looked back at me in confusion.

"Treecko knows pound!" Professor Birch called from his hiding spot behind a bush.

"Right," I muttered. "Fine, Treecko, use pound!"

Properly instructed this time, the grass-type gecko hit the poochyena with an almighty pound attack.

 _It's a critical hit!_

The poor pup was down for the count.

* * *

After making sure the poochyena was okay, Professor Birch dusted off his lab coat. "Thank you for that. You're Orlando, right? Norman's son?"

I nodded. "Just got here today, actually."

"Well then, why don't you come with me back to the lab? I've got something for you."

That didn't sound ominous at all.

Regardless, I figured it couldn't hurt. Professor Birch was my new neighbor, so it would be best to stay on good terms.

* * *

Once at the lab, the Professor turned to me. "May I see your Pokénav?"

"Okay?" I handed over the machine.

The Professor tinkered with the 'nav for a moment before handing it back. "I've added the Pokédex to your Pokénav! It'll record information on any pokemon you encounter, and record more when you capture them."

"Thanks, but why are you giving me this?" An entire pokedex was pretty rare. Most kids just got by with looking things up at pokemon centers.

"Think of it as thanks for getting me out of that embarrassing situation," Professor Birch said sheepishly. "Oh, and there's one more thing. You and that treecko worked really well together! He seems to have taken a liking to you. Would you like to nickname him?"

"I can keep him?" I asked in awe.

The Professor smiled. "It would be a shame to separate you two at this point. Go ahead and take him!"

"Thank you! Now for a nickname…" I looked down at my Pokénav, which was displaying all the grass-type's information.

Treecko registered! Would you like to give it a nickname?

I tapped the 'Yes' button, thinking. What to name a grass type? I could go with plant names…Barberry? I typed the name in before deciding against it. Nah, Barb was normally a girl's name. Arroyo then? That one was cool.

Name accepted!

 _Huh?_ I snapped out of my musing to look down at the screen and saw that I had missed the backspace button and hit the enter key instead, with only two letters remaining in the name box.

Treecko, now named Ba, made a happy noise at the new name. Well. At least he liked it?

Not knowing what else to do, I immediately called my best friend, Niki. She picked up promptly.

"Hello?"

"MY STARTER'S NAME IS BA. HOW DO I MAKE A NAMING THEME OUT OF THIS?"

She laughed at my misfortune. "How'd that happen?"

"I accidentally hit the enter key while I was backspacing…" I bemoaned.

"Oh my gosh that's beautiful."

"But still! Naming theme!" I brought the conversation back to my question.

There was a moment's pause as she contemplated. "I dunno. Animal sounds?" I could practically hear the shrug in her voice.

 _Animal? What's that?_

I shook my head. "You know what, never mind. You're no help."

"You can't say I didn't try—"

I hung up.

Ba. Seriously? Just—Ba?

Seeing how happy Ba was, though, I knew I had no choice but to accept the name and move on. Maybe I could make the naming theme periodic table shortcuts?

* * *

Omake:

Dusk looked down at her 3DS. She was just starting Alpha Sapphire for the first time, having decided to nuzlocke the new game. She was SO hyped after playing the ORAS Special Demo.

She pulled out her phone and texted her best friend, labeled "Magnesium."

 _Dusk:_ Hey Niki! Just started up Oras! I told myself I would nuzlocke the first playthrough. Should I do this?

 _Magnesium:_ Yeah it's not a hard game to nuzlocke!

 _Dusk:_ Yay!

 _Dusk:_ Eh, let's be a boy this time.

 _Dusk:_ Hm…name?

 _Magnesium:_ Orlando haha

 _Dusk:_ Okay let's do it!

 _Dusk:_ Oh hey! I don't have to wait for the running shoes!

 _Magnesium:_ Nope! Wait you didn't actually name him Orlando did you?

 _Magnesium:_ That was a joke

 _Dusk:_ Yeah. Yeah I did.

* * *

 **A/N: Based on a true story XD**

 **This turned out way choppier than intended. For some reason I had a hard time writing this? Which is weird, because I really love remembering this nuz…**

 **Edit: It's because of the perspective! At first I tried doing this in third person, and I just couldn't do it. I channel myself through Orlando too much. It became so much easier once I made it first person!**

 **If it's not obvious, Dusk is me and Niki is based on my best friend irl. Actually, the joke here is that Orlando is talking to Niki IN rl—despite him being from the pokemon world. This is gonna be fun to write.**


End file.
